


Five Times Darcy Didn't Need a Cybernetic Arm (But It was Nice Having Bucky Around Anyway)

by whitesilence



Series: Wabi Sabi [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-23 20:42:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1578914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitesilence/pseuds/whitesilence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What it says on the tin.</p>
<p>Parallels "Five Things You Can Do With a Cybernetic Arm".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Friggin’ Awesome

**Author's Note:**

> Someday there might be a sequel to "And One Thing You Can't". (Because Jane can and will tear holes in the universe dammit!)
> 
> But today is not that day.
> 
> Until then, here's what Darcy has to say about the original "Five Things You Can Do With a Cybernetic Arm". Sorry this first one is short.

She woke up to find that she felt about as good as the weather looked. Which was to say, completely horrible. Outside, it was grey and stormy and if she didn’t know for a fact that Thor was being kept very happy, she could have been fooled into thinking he was in a bad mood. Inside, she felt like someone had run her over with Jane’s old van and instead of taking her to the hospital, had left her to die an agonizing death in the desert. She forced herself out of bed anyway and nearly fell on her face stumbling into the bathroom. It was a near miss but she managed to make it to the toilet before she lost what seemed like everything she had eaten that week.

Jane was disappointed but understanding when she called in sick. Later, she would wonder exactly how ill she had sounded over the phone but for now, it took all her strength to drag herself into the kitchen for a glass of orange juice. She didn’t make it all the way back to bed, instead she was forced to take up residence on the couch and make a cocoon out of the fluffy throw blanket she kept there.

Which was how Barnes found her when he came to check on her. 

“Darcy?”

“What?” She cracked open her eyes to see his blurry face looking down at her. She squinted and tried to sit up. “Wait, what are you doing here? How did you even get in? Wait, dumb question. Never mind.”

He ignored her babbling. “Jane said you were sick. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Thanks but I don’t want to get you sick too.” She flapped her hand at him in a weak “go away” gesture.

“I don’t think I can get sick anymore.” He sat down and pulled her into his arms, carefully like he thought she might object, her legs draped over his lap.

“Must be nice.” she mumbled into his shoulder. Her words were grumpy but she was more than happy to curl into his side, his arm a warm weight around her waist. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, the world seemed to drift in and out but eventually, it resolved itself into Barnes holding a steaming bowl of soup under her nose.

“Is it chicken noodle?” she croaked.

“Of course.”

He helped her sit up and held the bowl steady while she ate. She tried not to read too much into the fact that the man who had once been the world’s most feared assassin was babying her while she was sick. She told herself that it was because she was just that friggin’ awesome and not because he felt sorry for her or obligated because she made him sandwiches all the time or who knew what. Honestly, she spent most of her time trying not to think too hard about why he seemed to like having her around. If he had gone a bit distant after the carnival last month, it was probably because she’d basically thrown herself at him. She’d thought that they’d gotten to the point that maybe the kiss would be a welcome distraction but since then he hadn’t seemed eager for a repeat performance so apparently she was wrong. 

When the soup was gone, he reached over to feel her forehead. “You’ve got a fever.”

Brushing his hand away with a groan, she flopped over and buried her face in the space between his thigh and the couch cushion, pulling the blanket up to her ears.

“Comfortable?” he asked, looking down at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read. She thought it might be some combination of concern and amusement and maybe, possibly, affection.

Unwilling to consider why that thought made a small flower of hope blossom in her chest, she turned over and reached up, flailing blindly until she found his metal hand. She tugged on his wrist until he let his arm go limp and plopped his palm down on her forehead. She sighed happily at the sensation of cool metal against her feverish skin.

“Now I am.”


	2. Get Nosy and Start Asking Awkward Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You seem like you need more friends than you need more people who are scared of you.”

The number of times she’s been in the same room as Natasha Romanov could be counted without using all of the fingers on one hand and she would never say that she was any kind of friends with the former assassin. So calling it a bit of a shock would be an understatement when she looked up from her computer monitor to see the Black Widow staring down at her. The “fell out of her fantastically comfortable rollie chair that looks like it could be part spaceship and landed on her ass” kind of understatement. 

“So I’m going to assume that you don’t want me dead.” she said as she picked herself up off the floor. “Because I’m also going to assume that if you did want me dead, I would be stone cold right now.”

“You’re right. I don’t want you dead.” She swore the other woman was smirking at her. “Yet.” 

“Oh, that’s so much better.” 

“Relax.” Now she was definitely smirking but at least her eyes reflected amusement instead of death.

“Sure, sure, I’ll get right on that. As soon as my heart rate returns to normal.” She plopped herself back into her chair and realized that might take a while. “Let’s just assume I’m relaxed. What’s piqued your sudden interest in astrophysics?”

“You.”

“Uh, you do know that I’m not an astrophysicist, right? I just work for one.”

“I’m not here for the astrophysics.” Natasha leaned a hip against the side of the desk, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m more interested in what you’re doing with the Winter Soldier.”

“Er, what am I doing with the Winter Soldier?” 

“Why don’t you tell me?” The look on the spy’s face told her that Natasha knew about everything that she had done with Barnes. But considering that wasn’t really a whole lot and he hadn’t exactly been Winter Soldier-y at the time, she was a little confused as to why they were having this conversation.

“Well, I don’t know about the Winter Soldier but I’d say I mostly make Barnes a lot of food. I’d say his favorite is a toss up between a pastrami sandwich and chicken parm. Honestly, did they even feed him when they let him out of cryo? Because he eats like-.” She cut herself off when she realized she was babbling. “Other than that, can’t say I have any idea what I’m doing.”

Something about her word vomit seemed to make the spy relax her guard, her arms dropped to her sides and her fingers began tapping lightly against her thigh. She seemed to consider something before pushing off the desk with her hip and moving further into the lab, her fingers trailing across scattered papers and equipment as she went. When she reached the other side of the room, Natasha glanced back at her, a sly look tossed over her shoulder that really should have been a warning for her next question.

“Do you love him?”

“Do I, what? No! I mean, I like him. He’s totally cool and he brought me soup when I was sick but I wouldn’t go that far.” She sputtered, her face going up in flames. “I only kissed him the one time but he doesn’t seem all that interested in another one so...”

Again with the sly grin. “I just wanted to see how you reacted to the idea.”

“Well there’s your answer.” She huffed. She tried to do the cool thing and ignore the redhead in favor of the data she was supposed to be entering but it was a bit like trying to concentrate on an exam when a pack of velociraptors were prowling the classroom picking out their next meal. She jumped again when Natasha appeared to teleport to a spot directly next to her right elbow. 

“You do realize you might have to face the Winter Soldier sometime, don’t you?”

“I try not to think of him like he’s two separate people.” She replied after a moment because one, her heart was racing again and two, it had been something she’d seen in her dreams more than once recently. She hadn’t told anyone about those dreams. Couldn’t explain that they started drenched in her own blood. Couldn’t find the words to describe how powerless she was to stop him when he went on a anger driven rampage. Couldn’t find a way to say what she would give to keep that from happening.

“I know I’m pretty useless.” She leaned down and pulled her taser out of the bag at her feet. Natasha took the weapon and examined it. “But Jane upped the voltage on this so at least I’m not completely unprepared. That said, I generally try not to do things that cause flashbacks.”

“I hope you never have to use it on him.” The taser was held out for her to take back but the Black Widow didn’t relinquish it right away. Instead, she was forced to look up into hard green eyes that held a world of hurt. It made her wonder again, why exactly the former assassin was here questioning her. But mostly it made her want to curl up and hide under the desk. 

“Take care of him.”

The extra “Or I’ll take care of you, permanently.” hung in the air, unspoken, between them. She nodded slowly, eyes wide. Natasha let go of the taser and exited the lab without another word, leaving her to slump back into her spaceship chair with what had to be the biggest sigh of relief known to mankind.

~*~

When she was done with the data entry, she went down to the recycling room and started crushing cans. There really wasn’t any reason for her to do this other than the fact that it was cathartic. Imagining that the cans were Hydra agents or Red Room personnel or any number of villains that had hurt the people she cared about, the ones she was powerless to protect, made her feel better and that was the whole point.

She was in the middle of putting another can in the crusher when she saw Barnes out of the corner of her eye. He must have just come from the gym because he was dressed more casually than she had ever seen before: sneakers, a pair of loose track pants and a half zipped hoodie with nothing under it. His hair was damp under the hood and a few days worth of stubble softened the line of his jaw. She resisted the sudden urge to run her hands over his cheek and tangle her fingers in his hair. Nope, not going there. Instead she put all her body weight behind the lever, using more speed and force than was ever going to be necessary but well, she was picturing Alexander Pierce’s smug face.

“What are you doing down here?” he asked, his nose wrinkling as he took in the windowless room filled with recyclable materials. To be honest, it didn’t really smell all that great but she had gotten used to it.

“Just needed some therapy.” 

He snorted. “This doesn’t look like any kind of therapy I’ve seen.”

“Some people knit. Some people hit punching bags until they explode. I crush cans and save the planet.” she shrugged and tossed the mangled can over her shoulder into the bin behind her. “It works.”

Bucky picked up a can, holding it loosely in his left hand, staring at it dubiously.

“I try to picture the can as whatever it is that’s pissing me off.” she supplied helpfully, setting up another one. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. “I did say I needed therapy, right?”

She smiled at him, a challenge and an invitation made with her lips and teeth, and pushed down on the lever, can crushed into oblivion. The corners of his mouth twitched upward. She might have called it a grin if it wasn’t gone as soon as it appeared. He looked her in the eye and closed his fingers. When he let go, the twisted ball of aluminum that had once been a can of Coke fell to the floor. 

“Satisfying isn’t it?”

He flashed her a look that was mostly teeth and snatched up another can from the bin in front of him. She grinned back and went back to her own pile.

They worked quietly for a while, the electrical whine of servos in his arm becoming background noise for the crinkle of aluminum as it suddenly changed shape and her occasional exhalations of effort. She had only a few cans left in the bin when she heard an ominous sloshing and looked up.

Before she could stop him, Barnes tightened his fingers around a large energy drink can and was immediately covered in an explosion of brown goo. The twist cap landed on the floor with a clatter that echoed in the stunned silence.

“Was that chew?” he asked, standing stock still.

She could only nod and try not to laugh as she directed him over to the utility sink tucked into the corner of the room. He said nothing as she used damp paper towels to wipe off his hands and forearms where he had pushed the sleeves up. Unfortunately, there was no rescuing his clothes, they would need to be washed, probably with copious amounts of bleach. Wetting a new towel, she reached up to clean his face.

“Is this okay?” she asked, suddenly unsure of herself. “It’s fine if you don’t-”

He reached up and took her hand, cutting her off. She looked up and caught the expression on his face. A stranger might have said he looked blank, or had a bitchy resting face but somehow, she’d started being able to read tiny nuances in his non-expressions and posture that on anyone else would have amounted to shouting their thoughts out loud. Right now, he looked so lost and confused that she had to quash the urge to throw her arms around him and hold him tight.

“What is it?” she asked instead. He released her hand and she let it drop to her side. 

“Why are you doing this?” 

“What? Do it yourself if you want.” She held the paper towels out but he didn’t take them.

“No, why are you…” he hesitated. When he spoke again, his voice was just above a whisper. “Why aren’t you afraid?”

“You mean like everyone else?”

He nodded, glancing away. She huffed and began cleaning the splattered tobacco juice from his face using rough swipes across his cheeks and nose, the hood falling back over his shoulders. 

"Let's be clear, I _am_ scared. I’m scared of a lot of things. Maybe not the same things as normal people, but just because I’m scared doesn’t mean I’m going to let that stop me from doing something I want to do.” She tossed the wad of paper towels into the trash can. “You seem like you need more friends than you need more people who are scared of you.”

“Is that what we are?” he asked, his blue eyes were bright when they caught hers and held on. “Friends?”

“If that’s what you want.” 

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Eventually, she dropped her gaze to watch her fingers fidget with the hem of her shirt. 

“Look, if this is about the carnival, I’m sorry-” His hand cupping her jaw cut her off. 

“Don’t be.”

His tongue flicked out, eyes dropping down to her lips. He looked as though he wanted something but didn’t quite know how to put the request into words. It was a look she’d seen cross his face a few times in the last few weeks but she hadn’t known what to make of it until now. 

Until Natasha had to get nosy and start asking awkward questions. 

Hoping she wasn’t wrong, she rose onto the balls of her feet and pulled him down until she could rest her forehead against his. “Is this okay then?” 

His nod was only the tiniest tilt of his head but that was all she needed. Her lips brushed against his, tentatively at first but then more firmly when he started to kiss her back. He kissed her like he wasn’t quite sure of himself but that was alright because she was happy to draw him out and let him explore until he found his confidence again. She let herself fall into the silken feel of his lips against hers and the taste of him mingling with her strawberry flavored lip gloss on her tongue. It wouldn’t be the best kiss of her life but damn if didn’t end up one of her favorites.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to say that the chew juice thing happened to me but it was a close call... and also involved a cockroach.
> 
> Darcy's outfit and her chair are [here](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=121714301).
> 
> Can't wait for more? Visit me on tumblr at whitesilenceinthesnow.


	3. It’s a girl’s best friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What, you want to walk me home from now on?” She responded with a raised eyebrow. James just pulled her into the empty car.
> 
> “You ask that like it’s a burden.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this before the shooting at UCSB happened. I've tried to handle the situation as sensitively as possible but I probably didn't get everything quite right. This isn't an area that I have too much experience with (thankfully) despite the scenario, again, being taken from my own life. 
> 
> So if street harassment, assault and related subjects are triggering for you, please proceed with caution.
> 
> (For the record, no one was hurt but someone, that wasn't me showed themselves to be a giant d-bag in front of a platform full of people.)
> 
> As always, you can find me on tumblr at whitesilenceinthesnow.tumblr.com where I'll be posting an alternate version of this chapter later today, if you're into that kind of thing.

Contrary to what some people thought, namely her grandmother, she was not BFFs with all of the Avengers. She only wished she was.

She’d met Bruce Banner once or twice, only saw Tony occasionally when he was in town and had been told that under no circumstances was she ever to be in the same room as Nick Fury. Clint and Natasha came and went as they pleased and sometimes stopped long enough to say hello but Steve Rogers? Steve, she was pretty cool with.

Which was why she was standing outside his apartment at seven fifty three on a Saturday night, waiting for him to open the door. Which he did, because she’d called ahead to make sure he wasn’t busy.

“Good evening, Darcy. You said you wanted to see me?”

“Can I talk to you?” Her voice came out unusually hesitant. Steve blinked but stepped back from the door and let her in. He gestured towards the living room.

“You want a drink?”

“Um, sure.” she replied, dropping down onto the overstuffed leather couch she had helped him bargain for at the flea market a few months ago.

He came back with two bottles of Red’s, this week’s recommendation from the little liquor store a few blocks away that they had all taken to frequenting when they wanted alcohol at odd hours. She took a sip and fiddled with the label while he settled into the armchair across from her.

“So what did you want to talk about?” he prodded gently.

She took another long pull and since Steve was watching, set the bottle down carefully on top of a handy coaster. “Is James okay?”

“What do you mean?” Steve looked up at her, his blue gaze sharp as knives. She knew instantly what he was asking but didn’t want to say.

“What? No! That’s not it at all.” she exclaimed. “He didn’t tell you what happened Tuesday night? Or maybe it was Wednesday morning. I’m not sure. It was late. Or early. Whatever!”

“No, he hasn’t mention anything. What happened?”

~*~

The subway station was deserted when she reached the platform. There weren’t many people catching the train out of midtown Manhattan at this hour of the night. Or maybe it was morning, she’d been awake so long that she wasn’t sure anymore. She posted up against a concrete pillar, pulling out her phone for a rousing game of Flappy Bird to stay awake. Jane sent her a text midway through so she paused the game and opened it to find a list of electrical components she would need to pick up on her way to the lab the next day.

Engrossed with her phone, she didn’t notice anyone else come down the stairs and make their way across the platform until they were little more than a foot away, staring at her with hard eyes.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Yeah, you can move.”

“Dude, there’s like four feet of space on the other side of the pillar. Just go around.” She glanced back down at her phone only to have it swatted out of her hands. “Hey!”

“I said move.” The teen moved closer, crowding her against the pillar.

“And I said no. Now back off!” Her hand dipped into her jacket pocket where her taser was stashed. Later she would blame fatigue for slowing her reflexes because that’s the only reason she could think of for allowing someone to get that close to her. But at the time, it seemed as though she could only watch as he reached out to grab the front of her jacket and pull her toward him.

“Bitch, I said move.”

“Okay, that’s it!” She pulled her hand out of her pocket and smashed him in the jaw with the taser, snapping his head back. At the same time, a metal hand appeared out of nowhere and clamped down on the back of the teen’s neck. Surprised, he let go of her jacket and she threw herself out of the way.

“I believe the lady said no.” James’s voice was as dark as she’d ever heard it. He picked the teen up by the neck and tossed him back up the platform. He spared a glance her way to make sure she was alright before advancing on the kid who backed away until he hit the wall. James sneered down at him.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The teen seemed to deflate, cowering against the wall of the station. “Don’t hurt me! Please!”

James reached out and pulled the kid up by the front of his school hoodie, every line in his body promising pain and violence. Sensing that she needed to intervene, she scooped up her phone and rushed over, tucking her taser back into her pocket.

“Stop!” she cried. “James, put him down.”

He looked over, eyes blank and cold, but didn’t release him. “He hurt you.”

“There’s barely a scratch on me and I think that being thrown around and strangled by Captain America’s best friend…” She stressed the last bit and stared meaningfully at the whimpering teen who looked about ready to cry, “...is punishment enough.”

She put her hand on his metal bicep and looked him in the eye, willing him to let go. After a moment, James released the kid and stepped back a few paces, though the tension didn’t leave his body. The teen slumped against the wall, unable to stand on shaking legs, gasping for breath. She stood over him, James looming over her left shoulder, and took a picture with her phone.

“Alright kid, listen up because I’ve had a long day and I’m only going to say this once. You’re going to go home and apologize to your mother for your behavior and then you are going to never talk like that to anyone ever again.” She held up her phone to show him the shattered screen and the photo she had taken, his face clearly seen and his school’s name and logo prominently featured. “Now, you better believe we can find you if you get in trouble again. Because you don’t want the Winter Soldier to come visit, do you?”

The kid shook his head.

“Good. Now get out of here before he decides to stop listening to me.”

The kid took off for the station exit like the platform had burst into flames. She watched him disappear up the stairs before turning back to James who immediately began checking her over for injuries. She grabbed his hands, stilling them. “James, I’m fine.”

Most of the tension seemed to leave him then, she could practically see the Winter Soldier posture melting away, leaving a scared and scarred man in its wake. He dropped his head to her shoulder, mumbling into her neck. “I’m sorry.”

She said nothing, just wrapped her arms around him, running her hands up and down his back soothingly. It was quiet for the moment, just the two of them alone on the platform, though she could hear the train in the distance.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” he said, lifting his head. “But I just wanted to be sure you got home alright.”

“Well, I will now, thanks to you.” She pulled back slightly, smoothing her hands over his chest and shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that.” He stilled. “What if I hadn’t stopped when you told me to?”

“But you did.” This was the last thing she wanted him to worry about. She pulled out her taser again and tapped him on the chest with it. “Let’s just say, that kid is lucky you pulled him off before I actually tased him. He’d have gotten a few more volts than the standard for these things.”

That seemed to settle him some but she could see the idea would continue to bother him. Unfortunately, she had no idea what to do about it right now so she opted for distraction instead. “How about you walk me home tonight?”

“What about tomorrow night and the night after that?” he asked as the train came to a stop at the platform.

“What, you want to walk me home from now on?” She responded with a raised eyebrow. James just pulled her into the empty car.

“You ask that like it’s a burden.”

~*~

When she finished speaking, she went to take a sip of her drink but found it empty. Disgruntled, she set it back down on the coaster and looked up to find Steve looking back at her with surprise written all over his face.

“You look like I just convinced you the Hulk was orange and not green.”

He shook his head, running his hand through his hair. “No, I knew Bucky was going out at night sometimes but I didn’t realize he was following you home until just now.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that. With any other man she would probably have started off on one of her “This is Why I Have a Taser” rants and good luck getting her to shut up for at least twenty minutes. But with Steve and James, she felt incredibly immature and silly for protesting their offer of protection. So she did what she did best and changed the subject.

“Well, now he doesn’t seem to want to talk to me or even be in the same room as me. So I’m a little confused is all.”

He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, his own drink dangling from his fingers. “We’ve been talking about him joining me on missions.”

“You mean, like join the Avengers? Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“Yes, that’s what I thought...” He trailed off.

“I’m sensing a ‘but’.” She pushed her glasses further up on her nose and leaned back. Steve ducked his head.

“He came to me on Thursday and said no. He didn’t think it would be a good idea.”

“Oh, that moron…” She made a gesture with her hands that looked like she was strangling someone. Steve stifled a chuckle. She glared at him over the top of her glasses. “I’m glad you think this is funny.”

He had the temerity to look sheepish. “Sorry. Not sorry.”

For an instant, she regretted teaching him that phrase but then she shook her head. “I think he should go with you. At least once.”

“How fortunate that we all agree.” he replied, dryly.

“Well that’s great, Steve. Now how are we going to convince him?”

~*~

In the end, they didn’t have to do any convincing. As it happened, Steve and Bucky had gone out for a run in Central Park when they ran into, both literally and completely by accident, a known Hydra operative that Steve had been trying to get a bead on for weeks.

Steve had glanced over at Bucky but the other man was already focused on tracking the fleeing operative. They’d wordlessly and almost effortlessly fallen back into the partnership that had seen them through countless battles. Neither of them brought up Bucky’s earlier hesitance.

Later that night, after all the debriefing was over and everyone else had gone, she found him sitting at the end of Stark’s landing pad, feet dangling in the empty night air. She hadn’t been in the room for the debrief but she’d heard enough to know that he’d been the one to knock Thor out of the way when the Norse god hadn’t seen the exploding car flying through the air towards him. Sure, Thor would’ve been fine but it was the principle of the thing.

“Hey.” she said, not wanting to surprise him. “Heard you got to be a big, damn hero today.”

James glanced up at her, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards before looking back down at the city below. “Yeah.”

“Bet it felt pretty good.” She dropped down to sit cross legged just behind him and to his right. At the same time, he shifted so that he was facing her, one leg folded in front of him while the other dangled. She reached across him, slowly, and put her hand over his where it rested on his knee. His metal hand. He turned his palm up and intertwined their fingers, fragile flesh and blood and bone weaving around unyielding metal.

“It did.” he admitted, staring at their joined hands. His brow creased then, his lips pressing together to form a flat line. She propped her head up on her other hand and waited for him to find the words he needed. Eventually, he looked up at her, his blue eyes full of uncertainty.

“What if, next time, I can’t stop?” He asked. “What if I go too far? And...”

“You lose yourself?” she supplied when he trailed off, as though putting the thought into words might make it happen. She turned their hands so that she held his in both of hers. “There’s no way to know for sure what will happen. You’ve been fine sparring with the team and you did fine today. You were fine that night in the subway too. So, I think it’s just a bridge we’ll have to cross when we come to it. Besides...”

“What?”

“There’s always my taser.” She finished with a cheeky grin. James still looked somewhat less than convinced but she thought that might have more to do with him not liking the idea of being electrocuted.

“I think you have an unhealthy fondness for that thing.” He remarked under his breath.

“It’s a girl’s best friend.” She declared. She nudged him with her shoulder. “You said ‘next time’. Does this mean you’re going to go out again?”

“Maybe.”


	4. Heights and Clear Lines of Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It bothered her sometimes, that most people looked at her and James and only saw the time and effort she poured into him.

Darcy walked straight into the common room and fell face first into the sofa. If she’d been able to see it, she would have bust a gut laughing at James’s surprised expression when her flop made him bounce. But as it was, her face was smashed into the cushions and her eyes were squeezed shut.

“Long day?” he asked.

“Yes,” She groaned, turning over and pulling a throw pillow over her face. She stretched out on the sofa, her bare feet poking James in the thigh. “The longest. Jane is a mean, evil bosslady. I’ve spent all day running all over this city looking for more circuit boards because she can’t wait on a delivery but everyone is sold out. I’m exhausted and my feet hurt.”

She yelped in surprise when James ran a cool metal finger up the sole of her right foot, going still when he pulled gently on her toes. He took her foot in hand and, pressing with his thumb, he began massaging the arch of her foot. 

“Oooh, that feels sooo good.” Relief flooded through her, her entire leg going limp and relaxed as he worked his way up to her ankle. The metal of his left hand was an unexpected relief for her foot after a hot day in worn out sneakers she’d meant to replace months ago. “Don’t stop.”

She melted into the couch, falling into a near dream like state of bliss as James expertly massaged her feet. She wondered just when he had learned to do this so well but set the question aside for another time. For now, she just wanted to enjoy this new found skill. He had just started on her other foot when she heard someone clear their throat.

“Am I interrupting something?”

James dropped her foot immediately. Her eyes flew open to see Clint Barton grinning lasciviously from the doorway. She glared at him but the effect was ruined by the blush that heated her cheeks. 

“Yes, my foot massage.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you.” He began backing out of the doorway, still grinning like a madman.

When he was gone, she turned back to James who was sitting with his hands folded in his lap, staring awkwardly down at her feet. She sighed and got up off the sofa. 

“Come on.” she said, holding out her hand. He looked up at her for a moment before letting her tug him up.

“Where are we going?” he asked, as she led him out of the room.

“Some place where you can finish that massage.”

~*~

“Jaaaaane…” Her friend and employer’s name became one long draw out whine as she poked the scientist in the arm with a plate full of food. “Jaaaaaneee…”

“What?” Jane looked up in annoyance.

“Dinner! It's pad thai from that one place you like so much.”

Jane waved the plate away. “Not now, I’ve almost got this proof done.”

Darcy sighed and plopped the plate down directly in front of Jane, on top of the notebook she had been writing in.

“Darcy!”

“It’s not like the notebook isn’t already dirty. Just, you know, divert some of that brain power for a few minutes and multitask. Don’t you need calories to run that thing anyway?”

Jane picked up the fork stuck in the top of the pile of noodles and poked the food before scooping some into her mouth. Darcy handed her a napkin as Jane suddenly realized how hungry she was and began scarfing the food down without stopping to taste it.

“Slow down or you’ll choke.” Darcy went back to her workstation, satisfied that the other woman had been fed. She was editing Jane’s latest work in progress, a paper on the quantum field generator to be presented at a conference next year. 

Sometime later, Jane came over to hand her the completed mathematical proof.

“All done?” Darcy asked. Jane nodded and yawned simultaneously in response. Darcy set the notebook down and guided Jane to the door. “Great, now get some sleep. I'll type it up in the morning. You can double check it later.”

“Huughhh.” was Jane’s only response as she stumbled towards the elevator. Darcy watched her go with a sigh of fond exasperation.

Satisfied that Jane would be gone for at least twelve hours, she set about closing up the lab and heading home herself. She was turning away from the door when she came face to leather covered chest with James. She screeched in surprise, nearly dropping her coffee mug and Stark Pad. His hands came up to steady her.

“James! Holy crap! Make some noise next time!” She shifted her belongings to her left arm and took his hand.

“I’ll try.” he said with a wry grin as they made their way down the hall.

“So, you headed out?” she asked, tugging him into the elevator.

“Yes.” He glanced over at her, licking his lips nervously. “Happy is waiting to take you home.”

She smiled. “So goodbye in the elevator?”

He nodded. Her smiled widened as she pulled him close. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

~*~

Darcy and Jane watched in frustration as their latest attempt at a quantum field generator died a slow and painful death. The golden light that was the quantum field had expanded to a decent size this time, about three feet in diameter, before suddenly wobbling and collapsing in on itself, air rushing into the vaccum it created with a soft "whompf". The main logic board emitted a shower of sparks and a shrill whistle, like a tea kettle, from somewhere in the organized chaos of parts.

“Well, that was impressive.” Tony Stark said mildly from where he stood behind them. "And by impressive, I mean not at all."

“Back to the drawing board.” Jane heaved a sigh and turned to the data being displayed on the monitors.

“Look on the bright side.” Darcy reminded her. “That’s the longest we’ve been able to keep it stable. You could be on the right track.”

“I’d say.” Tony added, looking over Jane’s shoulder. “Looks to me like you just need to find a better heatsink to handle the thermal flows around the crystals. I’ll bet good money that’s the main cause of the problem right there.”

“Want to bet a paycheck on it, Stark?” Darcy challenged, only half serious.

“What’s a paycheck?” The billionaire shot her a teasing grin. “How about a Starbucks in the lobby?”

“You hate Starbucks!” Jane exclaimed.

“That’s how you know I’m right.” Tony said, loftily. “I would never allow a Starbucks in my building.”

Jane snorted and turned back to the computers while the other two began picking apart the generator’s charred innards. Indeed, the circuitry around the crystal cluster had melted into yet another mass of plastic and metal. They were scraping hardened sludge off the crystals when Tony spoke up.

“So, you and Barnes, huh?”

Darcy looked up at him sharply. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

“I’m a gossipy old lady.” he said, defensively. “Just trying to stay on top of the grapevine.”

She sighed, the two of them had never sat down and talked about precisely what they were to each other. They hadn’t exactly been keeping it a secret that they were more than just friends but it wasn’t as though they had made a formal announcement either. And Tony was right, he was a gossipy old lady. All of the Avengers were, to be honest. Sometimes it all felt very highschool to her.

“Yup, me and Barnes.” she said, sarcastically. “We’re actually secretly married. Snuck out to Vegas last month and swung by the drive thru chapel. Elvis officiated, he wore a corsage made of shell casings, I threw the bouquet out the car window, the whole she-bang.”

Tony gasped with mock outrage, pressing his hand to his chest. “And you didn’t invite me! I’m hurt. I thought we were friends!”

“Bruce was our witness.”

“No!”

“Oh yes.”

She ducked as the tool Tony had been using sailed past her head to clatter across the counter behind her. Her wadded up ball of paper flew wide past Tony and bounced across the keyboard in front of Jane.

“Darcy!”

“Oh come on, bosslady!” She went over to the other woman and tugged at her arm. “We need a Starbucks break.”

“No you don’t!” Tony's yell followed them out into the hall.

 

Despite the earlier teasing, Darcy and Jane did not go to Starbucks. Instead, they went to a tiny coffee shop that was actually closer to the Tower than the nearest chain store. It was a local secret, tucked between two banks, almost a literal hole in the wall. It specialized in big comforting mugs of coffee and hearty pastries, with a brisk side business selling comics. The two women visited as often as Darcy could pry Jane out of the labs.

Collecting their drinks, the two women settled into the tiny nook behind the front window.

“So,” Jane began, “I think I have an idea for the heatsink problem.”

“Can you save it until we get back to the lab? We’re supposed to be on break.” Darcy felt like tearing her hair out. “Give your brain a rest and think about something else for a while.”

Jane pursed her lips, clearly wanting to pursue her current line of thinking further.

“You’re no good to Thor if you’re brain dead and drooling.”

“Alright then,” Jane was quiet for a moment before her eyes lit up. “What’s going on with you and James?”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Why is everyone being so nosy today?”

“Well, I’m curious now. Blame Tony. He’s the one that brought it up. Besides, you always ask me about Thor. And since he’s not here...”

“There isn’t much to tell really.” she said, staring into her mug. “I don’t want to push too hard or pressure him or anything. We’re just taking it slow, you know?”

“Really slow, apparently.” Jane teased. “Glacially slow. Tectonically slow.”

“Hey, not all of us are lucky enough to be swept off our feet by mythological figures!”

“No, just bad boy super soldiers."

It bothered her sometimes, that most people looked at her and James and only saw the time and effort she poured into him. They saw her making him food, showing him how to have fun again or just getting him back out into the world and somehow completely missed everything he did for her. Whether it was chicken noodle soup when she was sick or the foot massage the other day, hell, even just a nonjudgmental ear when she needed to vent, he always seemed to know what she needed even if he didn’t always quite know how to give it her. And despite all the horrible analogies thrown her way (Really, Jane? Snail races? She was reaching with that one.) Darcy had realized that even if things moved slowly, she was willing to wait and if that wasn’t love, she didn’t know what was.

~*~

James was sitting on the end of Tony’s landing pad again because heights and clear lines of sight brought him a kind of peace he couldn’t find anywhere else. Darcy was on the end of Tony’s landing pad because she was hiding from Jane. It wasn’t a particularly good hiding spot but she didn’t expect Jane to be looking too hard, she’d made a deal with Tony for a distraction.

“I just need to get out of the lab.” she said when she dropped down to sit next to him. “I’ve only managed to get Jane to sleep for eight hours out of the last three days. I can’t remember the last time I saw you.”

He looked over at her, blinking. “We just got back.”

“Oh yeah, Avengers, right. Doing the avenging thing.” she shook her head, huffing at herself under her breath. “Need some alone time?”

He shook his head, reaching for her. “I like it when you’re around.”

She settled against him, a surprised smile lighting up her face. She was usually the first one to reach out. “Good thing I’ve been making it a habit then.”

He hummed and rubbed circles over the back of her hand with his left thumb. She turned their hands over, running her fingers over the intricate jointed plates of his fingers and tracing the lines scored into the palm. When she’d first started finding herself hanging out with him, she’d made a point to treat him as though his left arm was no different from anyone else’s. And in a sense, it was. 

But she’d also never really looked at it. 

“So, my grandmother used to do palm readings.” she said, conversationally. “I wonder what she’d make of these lines.”

James snorted. “Nothing to see there but blood and death.” 

“Oh, I don’t know.” She ran her finger over what would be his lifeline if it wasn’t also a joint designed to allow his hand to flex. “I think Granny would probably say you had a good heart and a long life ahead of you.”

He snorted. “My life ain’t been long enough?”

Her eyebrow quirked up. “You tired of living?”

“Sometimes.” He replied in a voice so soft she could barely hear him. Her chest squeezed, strangling the breath in her lungs. 

"James," she gasped, her grip on his hand tightening until her fingertips went white. "James, you aren't..."

He was quiet for a moment before saying, "Sometimes I just want to walk away is all. Go some place where no one knows me or what I've done and I don't have to think."

"I think we all feel that way occasionally." Darcy sighed in relief. "But James, promise me, if you're ever going to do something drastic, talk to someone first. Doesn't have to be me, could be Sam, could be Steve, just... just promise me."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I care about you."

“Okay.” he said, glancing down at her with a curious shine in his eyes that she hadn't ever seen in them before. They sat together for several long moments, nothing but wind whistling around them, finding solce in each other's company before she finally stood, tugging at his hand to urge him to his feet. 

“Okay, enough moping. I found a new empanada place uptown I want to try.”

~*~

Darcy sat in the waiting room chair, her face buried in her hands. All she had wanted was to give her friends a break and have some fun but it had all gone so wrong. First the tire, then James rescuing Jane from getting hit by a car and then... Well, the taser, as amped up as Jane had made it, was enough to slow him down but not enough to completely stop him. It had taken a good hit to the jaw from Steve to knock James out until Natasha could arrive with a Quinn jet.

Now, he was being kept sedated while doctors with specialties she couldn’t pronounce, much less understand, poked and prodded and scanned as they tried to figure out what it was that had caused the sudden snap back. But all Darcy could see was James’s pale face on the pillow and the guilt and self recrimination she was sure he was going to feel when he woke up.

It made her frustrated and angry that she couldn’t help him, not with this. Sure, she could stuff him full of food because he was hungry all the time and drag him out for fun when he was feeling blue but when it came to all the psychology and neurology or any other “-ology", she was useless.

“I know what you're thinking."

"And what am I thinking, Sam?" she asked, a bitter taste in her mouth.

"That you're useless."

She glanced over at him as he took the seat next to her, her lips pulling downwards in a frown. He handed her a cup of coffee that she took gratefully. "But I am.'

"That it's your fault."

"You're not helping." 

"But that is what you're thinking, right?"

She glared at him for a moment before finally admitting that he was right.

"It's okay to feel that way." Sam said gently. "But, I for one, think you're doing alright."

"Just alright?" 

"Well, you know..." He gave her a teasing grin and poked her in the side to make her giggle and squirm.

"But seriously though," he said when she settled down. "I know you think all you can do is little stupid shit but believe me, it means a lot."

"I wish I could do more." She twisted her hands around the coffee cup.

"Darcy, you do plenty." Sam put his hand over hers, stilling her fidgeting. "Ever since you asked him to open that stupid pickle jar, he's been more engaged in the team, more likely to talk to other people, smile even. He wasn't like that when I first met him."

"He was kind of a downer, wasn't he?" An involuntary smile tugged at her lips as she remembered the first time she'd met him. "I thought he was going to kill me!"

"Trust me, you're doing just fine." Sam smiled back, patting her shoulder. "Now, I heard they've stopped sedating him so he should be waking up soon."

Darcy groaned. "I should probably go freshen up or something. I've been sitting here for like a million years. I probably smell like a Sarlacc pit."

"No," Sam reassured her. "Just the detention level trash compactor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll bet y'all thought I'd abandoned this story, didn't you? No such thing! I've just been super busy. I'm going to be super busy for the forseeable future as well but hopefully, I'll be able to update again soon. No promises though.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and have a happy holiday!


	5. Probably Putting It Lightly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With anyone else, she would have given up by now. She’d never thought it would be worth her time to have to coax a man into having sex with her. But then, they weren’t Bucky and she hadn’t been in love with them.

Darcy's eyes flew open to take in, not a ball of roiling blue-white fury but the velvety darkness of Bucky's apartment in Stark Tower. Moonlight peeking through the partially closed blackout curtains splashed across the living room, illuminating the smooth planes of Bucky's face. With her eyes, Darcy traced the curve of his jaw, the jut of his cheekbone against the couch cushion and up the straight bridge of his nose to the fan of dark eyelashes under his strong brow. She thought he would relax in sleep but even in the soft, celestial light, she could feel an underlying tension running through him like a sub-surface ocean current.

Surprisingly, Bucky hadn't woken when she had, jerking in a full body spasm that should have had him just as awake as she was now. They'd fallen asleep curled against each other on the couch again after another night of movies and making out. This had been going on for a while, the making out but falling asleep before things could go further. 

With anyone else, she would have given up by now. She’d never thought it would be worth her time to have to coax a man into having sex with her. But then, they weren’t Bucky and she hadn’t been in love with them. Her mind wandered back to that day in the lab, when Natasha had cornered her and asked if she was in love with Bucky. She'd been truthful at the time but now, well, she knew she was in deep.

The problem wasn't that she loved him. It was that his psyche was still fragile, especially now, only a few weeks after the aborted trip to Niagara Falls. She didn't want him to feel pressured to reciprocate or trapped or anything other than what he could pull out of the tangled mass of emotions he was still trying to sort through on a daily basis.

She could tell that the idea of someone caring about his well being beyond his ability to complete the mission was still foreign to him on some level though he'd managed to stop looking so bewildered all the time. Darcy just wasn't sure if Bucky was ready for her to say it out loud to him, much less respond in kind. Hell, she wasn't sure if she was ready to say it out loud her own self. 

He shifted suddenly in his sleep, his arm coming up to curl around her shoulders. She let him draw her closer, snuggling into to his chest, and decided that any further navel gazing could wait until the light of day.

~*~

She was three hundred ninety two pages deep into the latest packet of data from the Stark Industries particle accelerator upstate when she became aware of their new intern standing at her elbow, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

Over the last few weeks, Jane had hit a wall in her work with the quantum field generator and decided to take a break. What that really meant for Jane was that in addition to working on the generator, she was also now going back to her original research into Einstein-Rosen Bridges and black holes. 

What that really meant for Darcy was that she hired another intern.

Ian had been a great intern, mostly because he understood all the math behind the science. While Darcy understood the theory, having someone who could actually follow Jane's train of thought and make their own contributions had helped the astrophysicist even more than Darcy could. Or would have helped if Jane had pulled herself out of her cloud of heartsick depression long enough to realize how smart Ian was. Darcy might have been worried about being replaced but in the end, Ian had returned to school in England and it was Darcy who had come to New York with Jane. She also liked to think that Jane would have brought her along anyway because she was pretty awesome in her own right.

As it was, Jane had needed to run some experiments with anti-matter on a particle accelerator. Tony had graciously allowed her to use his. Or maybe it was the company's. Whatever, the effect was the same. Jane sent experiments out to be run on the accelerator and data came back. Terabytes upon terabytes that would take Darcy weeks to get through on her own even with the help of JARVIS. Hence the intern currently quaking in his shoes.

Darcy looked up over the top of her glasses.

"Yes?"

"There's, um, a visitor?" The young man cringed, glancing behind him. Bucky stood in the doorway, loomed really, dressed in his usual uniform of black. Black boots, black cargo pants, black woolie pulley and a leather jacket, black of course. Darcy thought he looked pretty hot but figured she was a little biased. She waved him over.

"What's up?" she asked. The intern scooted out of the way as Bucky entered, squeezing around one of the computer workstations and making a quick exit. Her eyebrow came up at the nervous behavior. "Other than scaring the pants off my new intern?"

Bucky shrugged, his expression one of pure innocence that she didn't buy for a minute. "Lunch?"

"Is it that time already?" Darcy stretched and looked up at the clock. Sure enough it read 12:30. "Yeah, let me get my jacket."

~*~

It had been some time since Darcy had seen the Black Widow around the Tower, not that she had been around that much herself. Jane had made a breakthrough with the Einstein-Rosen Bridge that had necessitated a trip back to New Mexico to visit a sacred tribal site and then a trip to Norway, also to a culturally protected location, in the middle of winter. She was still trying to thaw out, never mind dealing with the amount of paperwork those trips had entailed. The only bright spot had been the fact that Bucky had been assigned to their security detail. 

This time, however, she was not cornered in the lab. Oh no, this time, it was she who was doing the cornering. Well, inasmuch as one could corner a woman like Natasha. When Darcy saw the older red head alone in the kitchen, a mug of tea at her elbow, she pounced on the opportunity.

"How did you know?" She hissed as she walked past on her way to pull out the coffee grinder.

"Know what?" The former spy looked unperturbed at the sudden questioning, curled on the bar stool. 

"That I would fall in love with Bucky!" A five pound bag of extra dark roast landed on the counter next to the grinder.

"I didn't."

Darcy whipped around to see that Natasha had raised an eyebrow and was probably reevaluating the accuracy of SHIELD's assessment of her intelligence. 

"What?!"

"Its an interrogation technique. Ask an unexpected question, get the subject off balance, get an honest answer." Somehow, Natasha made a shrug look graceful. "I'll be glad to take the credit though."

"But... but..."

"It would mean winning Clint's little pool. I might even be convinced to split it with you." she continued blithely. "You should use the money to take Barnes out on a date. Go somewhere nice." 

Darcy sighed in defeat. Of course Clint would have a pool and of course Natasha would win. 

"Sure. But do you think he's ready for something like that? We haven't, like, talked about any of this at all. I mean, we haven't even-" she cut herself off, her cheeks flushing red.

Now it was Natasha's turn to sigh. "Of course you haven't."

"Can you really blame me for wanting to be cautious?" She shot back. "Pretty sure his emotional well being is more important than a Facebook status!"

"Very well, forget the date. Just ask him to go with you to a nice restaurant. Make him dress up. That might actually help."

"How do you mean?" She asked as she gathered up the grinder and beans.

"Have you seen pictures of the man in a suit? I guarantee he hasn't worn one since the forties. It will give his self-esteem a boost."

Darcy thought about it for a minute before nodding slowly. "Alright, its a deal."

"I expect to hear all about your date after." Natasha stood with her tea.

"I thought you said to forget the date."

"Call it whatever you want. We'll all know what it really is." Darcy could see the other woman hiding her smile behind her mug as she sauntered out of the room.

~*~

The not-date went spectacularly. If it weren’t for that, Darcy would probably be worried about the Avengers’ gambling habits. Half of the pot was enough for two people at the kind of restaurant where the food was tiny and the prices not mentioned. Granted Natasha had probably threatened someone to get them the reservation, but she wasn’t going to complain because again, the not-date had gone spectacularly. She wasn't sure where Bucky had gotten the suit from (though she was sure Tony somehow had a hand in it). If she'd thought he looked good in black and leather, she wasn't precisely sure how to classify her reaction to the suit.

Ready to tear out the eyeballs out of all the women who had been sending not-so-subtle glances his way all evening was probably putting it lightly. 

But they were behind closed doors in her apartment now. The only heated glances being thrown were between the two of them and it didn't take a genius to see where Bucky was hoping this was going. Where she was hoping this was going.

She reached out and took his hands. 

"Is this okay?" she asked, looking up into his blue, blue eyes. His lips curved upwards in the beginnings of a rare grin, his eyes glinting in the low light of her living room.

"Very okay." he replied. A light tug and she was pressed against his chest, the fine fabric of his suit smooth under her palms. Pulling on his tie, she lifted up on the balls of her feet, still too short in her borrowed four inch platform heels, and pressed a light kiss to his lips. She felt more than heard his inhaled breath before his hands were up, framing her face, stopping her from pulling away and then he was kissing her with an intensity that was nearly overwhelming.

Senses swimming, it was all she could do to loosen his tie and unbutton his suit jacket. His lips still on hers, he stepped closer into her touch so she could push the jacket off his shoulders and start undoing the buttons of his shirt. 

She finally broke the kiss when she reached his undershirt. One, so she could breathe and two, so she could begin tugging it out of the waistband of his trousers. His breath hitched and he tugged lightly on her hair to get her attention before she could get very far.

"Not okay?"

An uncomfortable look passed over his face and she could guess what it was that caused it. She'd never seen him shirtless, hadn't a clue how his metal arm was joined to his flesh and blood but she'd guessed that it was something he would be insecure about. 

"It's alright." With a reassuring smile, she tugged him over to the couch and pushed him down to sit. "Why don't you help me with my dress?" 

She turned around and pulled her hair out of the way. Her dress was a sweet cherry red, the same color as her lipstick and the star on his shoulder. It hugged her figure in all the best ways and showed off her cleavage to the best advantage. But it also had a zipper that had required her to contort herself into a pretzel in order to get fastened. Of course, Bucky had it down in seconds.

She glanced back over her shoulder, giving him a saucy wink before letting the dress drop to the floor, leaving her standing in matching red underwear. The choked noise he made as she turned brought a grin to her face but it was his heated gaze that made her heart jump.

He was slumped against the back of the couch, looking for all the world like Hulk had thrown him through a few walls. Tie hanging loosely around his neck, shirt unbuttoned and half untucked, he was the most tantalizing thing she'd seen in her life but there was just one thing wrong with the scene before her.

"Looking a little over dressed there, Buckster." she said as she straddled his legs, her hand hovering above his belt. "Should I help you with that?"

He surged up against her, nearly toppling her over onto the couch, capturing her lips. But despite the heated, almost desperate kiss, she didn’t move to touch him until he said softly, "Yes, please."

~*~

The next morning Darcy woke with the sun, her head pillowed on Bucky's cotton covered chest. While she would admit that it was a little disappointing not to see him completely shirtless, it had ridden up during the night to expose a six pack of abs that she would be quite happy to sink her teeth into. And the rest of him certainly wasn't clothed. Or asleep either.

 

After the frankly excellent morning sex, she decided to make a rare Saturday trip to buy fresh produce. Bucky went with her despite repeated warnings that he would have to carry all of the bags. Again.

Vegetable shopping done, they wandered into the flea market section of things. It was always interesting looking through the piles of stuff with Bucky. Most days everything was just more junk but occasionally, he would come across something that would spark a memory. Today, it seemed that a little silver moka espresso pot was niggling at him.

"What is it?" she asked, peering over his leather clad shoulder.

He hummed in response. "Used to have one of these, I think."

"Get it if you want. We can always use one in the labs. No one knows how to work the thing Tony installed."

He hummed again, turning it over for another minute, before making the purchase. He added it to one of the many bags hanging from the crook of his metal arm like bunches of overripe fruit, giving new meaning to the “All in one trip!” mentality. Offering his other arm to Darcy, they made their way back to the subway station in comfortable silence.

"Would you be okay with me calling you my boyfriend?" she asked, suddenly. No time like the present to ruin a good thing.

He was silent for so long she was afraid she might have upset him somehow. She opened her mouth but he answered before she could insert her foot.

"Yes." 

"Really?" She squeaked.

"Yes." He smiled down at her and in that moment she knew that even if he didn't know it himself, he loved her just as much as she loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darcy’s not-date outfit is [here](http://www.polyvore.com/probably_putting_it_lightly/set?id=148753340).
> 
> Happy Valentine’s Day to all my readers who are staying home with the fanfic. Hooray for imaginary boyfriends. Or girlfriends. Because this is certainly the closest I’m getting to a date.
> 
> I'm posting this now because I'm going out of town for a few months and I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have. (Right now I'm anticipating precisely none.) So if this seems rushed, that's why. Hopefully I'll have most of the next bit, which will be titled "And One Time She Did", at least roughed out by the time I get back but I make no promises.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, since there seemed to be some confusion, I’ve made a timeline/list thing of how this story meshes with “Five Things You Can Do With A Cybernetic Arm”:
> 
> Five Things You Can Do With A Cybernetic Arm - Chapters 1, 2, 3  
> Five Times Darcy Didn't Need a Cybernetic Arm - Chapters 1, 2, 3  
> Five Times Darcy Didn't Need a Cybernetic Arm - Chapter 4 Sections 1 - 4  
> Five Things You Can Do With a Cybernetic Arm - Chapter 4  
> Five Times Darcy Didn't Need a Cybernetic Arm - Chapter 4 Section 5  
> Five Times Darcy Didn't Need a Cybernetic Arm - Chapter 5 Sections 1 & 2  
> Five Things You Can Do With a Cybernetic Arm - Chapter 5  
> Five Times Darcy Didn't Need a Cybernetic Arm - The rest of Chapter 5  
> And One Thing You Can’t
> 
> Just in case you want to try to read the series in chronological order. Or I don’t know, maybe this will just confuse people more. I didn’t have anything planned out in advance so if there are any inconsistencies, that’s why.


End file.
